|
Message From the Executive Director
Dear Exploris Community,
I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful weekend with your family and friends. Super Bowl weekend is always very festive. Personally, I enjoy the commercials and fun food more than the football game. It is hard to believe we are halfway through the school year already and I know the second half always flies too quickly. Students have been working through their mid-year benchmarks on MAP, mClass, and teacher-created assessments to measure their progress and plan for the remainder of the year. Portfolio conferences are also on their way to give families an opportunity to see their child in action demonstrating their accomplishments and identifying areas for future development. I wanted to remind all families that February 7th is a teacher workday reserved for the conferences. Please remember to check your teacher newsletters for conference sign-ups. We also have a long holiday weekend for President’s Day and school will be closed on Monday, February 17th and Tuesday, February 18th.
We will also honor and celebrate black history month during February. Our teachers will continue to celebrate black history so that we all take an opportunity to learn more about the significant roles African Americans have played in shaping US history. As part of their current studies this week, eighth-graders heard the personal story from Joe Holt about his family’s fight against school segregation in Wake County. Teachers will continue to discuss the importance of black history throughout this month raising awareness about the injustices of the past so that we are always living our vision of “Empowering Learners to Improve our World”. Michelle Obama asserts that “History has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.” As we reflect on black history, I challenge each of us to have the courage to do what is right and become role models for our students so that together we develop world changers and history makers. Our hope for a better future lives on in our students.
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” Harriet Tubman
Operations Update
The Office of Charter School released the results of the 2018 – 2019 Performance Framework on Charter School accountability. I am pleased to share that Exploris was found to be compliant in all areas.
The governance committee has been reviewing our policy and procedures for volunteers for the last two years. Many of our families completed the survey last year providing valuable input on conducting background checks for volunteers to further improve the safety and security for our students. Our insurance provider recently conducted an audit of our facilities and made recommendations for improvement and safety including the requirement for conducting background checks on volunteers. The governance committee will be drafting a policy at the February meeting and presenting it to the full Board for review and approval in the near future. We are also investigating visitor management programs that will improve the safety of our school and ease the check-in process.
School Calendar 2020-2021
A committee that included parents, staff, and administration drafted the 2020-2021 school calendar. The final 2020 -2021 calendar was approved at the January Board meeting and is linked in this newsletter and posted on our website for your reference and planning. Please remember that it is critical for all students to be present on the first day of school to ensure that we receive full state funding.
Applications for 2020-2021
We are in the final week of accepting applications for the 2020-2021 school year. Please remember to complete your applications for siblings by the February 7, 2020 deadline and share information about Exploris with your friends and neighbors. Last weekend Exploris participated in the Charter School Fair at the Raleigh Convention Center, held a recruiting event at the Chavis Community Center and promoted our school with radio ads to increase the diversity of our applicant pool. We currently have over 900 applications to date. Please post the admissions link here to your social media pages to further promote Exploris and ensure that all families are aware of the February 7, 2020 deadline. The lottery will be held on March 6, 2020. Good luck to all.
Building Update
The facilities board committee continued to meet to discuss the next steps for identifying a new property. The committee met with representatives from Tri Properties Corporate Services division. The scope of services covered includes multi-market lease negotiations, multi-market acquisition/disposition, market analysis, and comparative financial analyses as needed. The Board approved the agreement to engage the services of Tri Properties to conduct a full search for our new school location. We believe that a dedicated corporate commercial real estate broker will provide the needed assistance to locate real estate that meets the needs of Exploris for the future.
The school has also filed a formal complaint with the Wake County Superior Court against our former developer. We cannot provide any additional details because this is now considered active litigation and the complaint speaks for itself.
The finance committee continues to update financial forecasts and has worked with financial agencies to provide estimates for bond financing for our future needs. We will continue to explore options with realtors and financing agents until we find viable solutions to share with our community. We appreciate your patience as we reset and pivot to find a new Exploris location.
Enjoy reading all the interesting grade level highlights in the newsletter to find out more about the exciting learning taking place at Exploris. Remember to update your calendars with the upcoming important dates. Feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher or one of the administrative support team members if you have any questions or need assistance.
All the best,
Ellie
Kindergarten
Kindergarten conducted an experiment with Ms. Ashley from first grade. We learned about blubber when discussing polar bears and the kids got to see what it would feel like to have blubber (Crisco) in cold water versus just their bare hand in cold water. They determined that having blubber kept their hand much warmer.
First Grade
First Graders participating in a hands-on science experiment about why birds have different types of beaks!
Second Grade
Second Grade visited the Gregg Museum of Art. The students loved seeing the collection of lithographs and the taxidermy of fantastic creatures.
Third Grade
Third grade celebrated the end of our second case study focussed around culture, by hosting an International Festival. We shared food from around the world and presented presentations about the countries and cultures we have studied.
Fourth Grade
Below you can see 4th-grade students showing great focus completing warm-ups in math groups.
Fifth Grade
As the cold has arrived, students have been focused on learning new math skills, completing their revised Encyclopedia Britannica entries for Christopher Colombus, and preparing for their first student-led portfolio conference of the year. We’ve been very impressed with their focus and commitment to doing their best.
Sixth Grade
Sixth graders recently completed a Genius Hour project. Students selected a topic from one of the first four thresholds of the Big History Project. Students shared their work with parents and community members last week during our Genius Hour Symposium. There were many great topics and presentations!
Seventh Grade
The MS Garden Service Learning group took a field trip to Weaver Street Market. There, students identified foods that were locally grown and produced in North Carolina and dug into some research about which farms and companies their food came from. Finally, students enjoyed a smorgasbord of their selections, including microgreens, cheese, pickles, peanuts, baked goods, strawberries, and even ice cream!
Eighth Grade
Currently, the students in 8th grade are conducting the lovable Sourdough Citizen Science Experiment. The sourdough project consists of each group creating a "baby" sourdough starter in a mason jar out of a variety of different flours and water. Each group will try to make sure their baby lives a sustainable life for the next two weeks in their microbiome. This project is part of our microbes unit studying how microbes help or hurt us in the human body. Half of this expedition involves the students "feeding" the baby each day and the other half is learning about how yeast and bacteria balance in the sourdough ecosystem. We encourage you to ask your child about how their "baby" is doing in the sourdough project!
Global Arts
During Connected World at the Elementary school Kindergarteners have been playing Don't Break the Ice. This was a fun activity during our journey to Antarctica!
Counselor Corner
Please join us at Parent University on February 20th at 6:30. We will have a free viewing of the new release "Screenagers Next Chapter" for parents and students age 10 and up. Please see the details below.
Location: Longleaf School of The Arts
Register here for this FREE event
Movie Details
Babysitting is on-site and free for those who attend must contact me at michelled@exploris.org by February 14th
Thank you,
Michelle
|
